Besides anecdotal accounts of general human lunacy when the moon looms large in the night sky, there has been murmurs for some time in the scientific community that the Earth's natural satellite also affects our sleep. All studies thus far have been inconclusive.

A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.